75th Anniversary Season Sponsors

Twenty acclaimed international dance companies and artists in five unique programs, featuring six world premiere commissions from Gemma Bond, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Justin Peck, Sonya Tayeh, Caleb Teicher, and Jennifer Weber all perform in the 15th anniversary of this beloved celebration of dance.

An unprecedented celebration of George Balanchine’s choreography in six distinct programs by eight of the world’s greatest ballet companies—American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet.

The ultimate musical tribute to the life of the Broadway dancer. Funds raised at all seven performances will allow City Center to make the performing arts accessible to the widest possible audience by subsidizing affordable tickets throughout the year.

Alvin Ailey American Dance TheaterNov 28 – Dec 30, 2018Tickets on sale to General Public on Sep 4

New York City Center’s Principal Dance Company will present a dynamic program over five weeks, including a special program on December 11 in honor of City Center’s opening performance in 1943.

Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (NDT 2)Jan 16 – 19, 2019Tickets on sale to members on Aug 27; General Public on Sep 4

Founded to develop young talent for Nederlands Dance Theater, this second division of the company kicks off their US tour at City Center with an exciting program including two US premieres.

Call Me Madam was the highlight of the second season of Encores! (1995) and the show that put the series on the map. With a memorable score by Irving Berlin, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, Call Me Madam centers around a brassy ambassador to the fictional European nation of Lichtenberg.

Ballet Flamenco Sara BarasPresented by New York City Center and Flamenco FestivalMar 7 – 10, 2019Tickets on sale to members on Aug 27; General Public on Sep 4

Flamenco superstar Sara Baras returns to City Center with her company, this time to showcase her trademark take on La Farruca—traditionally danced by male flamenco dancers—and featuring guest artist José Serrano.

Rodgers and Hart’s third major collaboration with choreographer George Balanchine will be directed and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse for his soon-to-be wife, New York City Ballet principal dancer, Sara Mearns.

Dorrance DanceMar 28 – 30, 2019Tickets on sale to members on Aug 27; General Public on Sep 4

A highlight of many past Fall for Dance Festivals, the company returns to City Center for the 75th Anniversary Season with world premieres by Michelle Dorrance and Bill Irwin, commissioned by New York City Center, and the revival of SOUNDspace.

Natalia Osipova's Pure Dance with David HallbergApr 4 – 7, 2019Tickets on sale to members on Aug 27; General Public on Sep 4

Natalia Osipova reunites with David Hallberg in a US premiere by Alexei Ratmansky. The legendary partners are joined by Jonathan Goddard and Jason Kittelberger for a repertory program including commissioned works by Ivan Péréz, Anthony Tudor, and Roy Assaf.

Dance Theatre of HarlemApr 10 – 13, 2019Tickets on sale to members on Aug 27; General Public on Sep 4

Dance Theatre of Harlem is a company of diverse artists who perform an eclectic, demanding repertoire that defines the range of classical ballet. The company will celebrate its 50th anniversary during its City Center engagement.

MasterVoicesLady in the DarkApr 25 & 26, 2019Tickets on sale to members on Aug 27; General Public on Sep 4

MasterVoices will celebrate Encores! and City Center's rich musical theater history with a special concert performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin’s Lady in the Dark. Starring the inimitable Victoria Clark (Gigi, Cinderella), supported by the 100 plus voice MasterVoices chorus, Doug Varone and Dancers, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Lady in the Dark has not been seen in New York since it was presented as part of the inaugural Encores! season in 1994.

The rarely seen High Button Shoes is the adventure of a traveling con-man caught up with rural, small town New Jersey and features, among other treasures, Jerome Robbins’ Mack Sennett-style ballet, set to the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn song “On a Sunday by the Sea.”

In Boris Eifman’s productions, the costumes are sumptuous, the dancing is exquisite, and the drama is riveting—here, the company dances a brand-new ballet inspired by the Greek myth Pygmalion, set to a score by Johan Strauss, Jr.

Encores! Off-CenterSummer 2019

VISUAL ART COMMISSIONS

Conceptual Artist Lawrence Weiner

Weiner’s language-based work will be his response to the City Center building and installed in the east and west stair landings connecting the main auditorium’s Orchestra-level and Grand Tier lobbies. The work will be on view to all who enter the theater. Notepads that incorporate the design will be distributed free of charge to audiences throughout the season.

Photographer Nina Robinson

Robinson will capture theater and dance artists throughout the historic building and in the spaces in which they live and create. The life-size photographs will be on view to the general public in the through-block passage adjacent to City Center (between 55th and 56th streets) inviting our community to appreciate Robinson’s work free of charge. Dates to be announced.

Architect and Artist Jorge Otero-Pailos

Otero-Pailos will create animmersive installation for The Harkness Studio at City Center. His piece will evoke concepts of history, memory, and impermanence through the fabrication of latex casts of the studio's surfaces, which will be illuminated by light boxes placed throughout the large rehearsal room. The latex casts will lift the dust and other residue left on the surfaces of the studio by those who use it as a creative space. The accompanying sound score will be a collage of Merce Cunningham’s voice, recorded during the final weeks of the choreographer’s life, overlaid with the sounds of a restaging of Cunningham’s Roaratorio. The installation will be on view for three week-long exhibitions—in October 2018, March 2019, and April/May 2019—and will be free to the public.

ADDITIONAL EVENTS

The 75th Anniversary Season also includes a full slate of studio events including expanded programming for Studio 5 and the intimate master class series Front & Center. The Museum of the City of New York will host a series of talks curated by and featuring Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel, and two striking archival exhibitions will be mounted, one at the New York Library for the Performing Arts and the other at New York City Center. City Center will also embark on a two-week tour of the five boroughs bringing the extraordinary artists from the stage directly to New Yorkers in their neighborhoods.